


Strength

by tasteslikesugar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Feels, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 00:01:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9295427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tasteslikesugar/pseuds/tasteslikesugar
Summary: Allura has to do a group project in college with a bunch of misfits, but she finds herself drawn to their leader, Shiro. How far will their relationship advance? How did Shiro get his mysterious injuries? And what is Allura hiding behind her smile? Will Keith and Lance ever stop arguing? Only time will tell!





	

**Author's Note:**

> I ship Allura and Shiro but Klance is my main OTP. I don't know, I haven't written an actual fanfiction in a while, I hope that this is okay. Also, I HAVE NO PLAN YET FOR WHERE THIS IS GOING TO GO, SO I HOPE IT TURNS OUT WELL.

"Allura!"

Allura's head snapped upwards, and she blushed to the tips of her cocoa-colored ears. The class' eyes were on her, and the professor was smiling tightly, probably wondering why she was still working at a prestigious college as a temp, lecturing to students who wouldn't even look up from their doodles. Allura quickly shut her journal, and focused her eyes on the teacher indicating that she was paying full attention.

"Yes, Professor?" 

"Pick a team for the project. Everyone else has already grouped up. Then you can draw to your heart's content." 

Allura's right eyebrow twitched and she resisted the desire to make a snappy comeback. She scooped up her journal, threw her galaxy-printed backpack over her shoulder, and stood up. The room was full of chatter, everyone else was already discussing the assignment. Allura squinted at each team, feeling a pang of worry when she noticed that all of the chairs were filled at each table...save one. Oh dear. 

"Hey, Hunk, what am I?" 

_Lance._

The olive-skinned boy was sticking mechanical pencils under his top lip, doing such a terrible walrus impression that any mammal within ten miles of him would feel residual shame. He groaned a few times, like his stomach was hurting. Allura suspected it was supposed to be a walrus noise. Well, she didn't know what a walrus sounded like anyway. For all she knew, Lance could be a prodigy walrus whisperer. One of the pencils fell out of his mouth, and she heard laughter from around the room. Lance certainly stole the spotlight, wherever he was. The young man next to him said something critical and Lance stuck his tongue out impishly. She knew that man only by reputation...Keith. He was already training to be a pilot, studying aeronautics. All the girls in the class had a crush on him, much to Lance's vocal disdain. A true spitfire if she ever saw one. His arms were crossed and he was staring at Lance with a deadpan expression, as if waiting for him to realize that now was not the time. Allura doubted Lance would get the message. 

"Come on Keith, it's kind of funny," chuckled a friendly voice. Allura glanced to Lance's left...ah, Hunk, of course. Lance and Hunk were inseparable. She liked Hunk, he'd lent her money at a vending machine on campus once. Allura had felt ashamed that she couldn't even afford a granola bar at the time, she'd offered to pay him back, but he refused to accept her money. He'd simply rubbed the back of his head with a puzzled expression and said "It's just a granola bar, I don't mind. Food is important." Allura's lips twitched upwards. Maybe that group would work out. On the right side of Hunk was someone Allura actually trusted to get the project done...Pidge. Allura didn't know what the girl's real name was, in fact, she hadn't even known that Pidge was a girl upon first meeting her. Pidge's hair was short and boyish, but it suited her. She was cute...though Allura was sure that Pidge wouldn't want to hear that from her. Pidge was an enigma, but she was also a genius. Even though she looked so bored, playing her green Nintendo DS under the table, Allura knew that she would put her heart into her work. More and more, she was beginning to warm to the idea of joining the ragtag team in the back of the room. She quieted her nerves, and began to advance towards the table. 

 _It will be okay, even though they're all already friends. It's only a project, all we have to do is work together, and get the job done. We just need to be a team._

Allura tapped Hunk on the shoulder, and he turned his head slowly, his eyes squinting with laughter. Even if Keith wasn't amused, Hunk clearly loved Lance's impressions. The squint disappeared as his eyes widened, and Allura almost wished she had approached Pidge instead.

"Oh, it's you! Granola Girl."

Allura chuckled and smiled, hoping the gesture would come across as being friendly.

"I hope that isn't my nickname from now on...hey, can I join your group? Everywhere else is full."  

Hunk nodded, tilting his head to one side as if to ask for Lance, Keith, and Pidge's opinions. Pidge continued staring down at her Nintendo DS, and gave a vague nod when Hunk poked her shoulder. Keith shrugged, as if to say "Makes no difference to me". Lance was thoroughly enthusiastic, but Allura suspected that was just because he was a self-proclaimed "ladies man." Ha, what a great joke that was. She expected no less from the class clown.

"Great! Then I'll just...sit here." Allura slid into the empty seat, and pulled out her pen. She gathered her long white hair into a messy bun, and opened up her journal to a fresh page. "So, does anyone have any ideas?"

"Yeah," interrupted Keith, speaking to Allura for the first time. His eyes were cool, but not distinctly aggressive. "You can get out of Shiro's seat."

"Shiro...Shiro's sitting here?" Allura's eyes narrowed in confusion. What the hell was Keith smoking? Shiro hadn't been in class since the beginning of the quarter. No one had seen him in weeks. He wasn't a hard person to miss- he was tall, imposing, and accomplished. People noticed him immediately, looked up to him. She'd never even spoken to him and she already knew so much about him. He was a legend around campus. He was the perfect college poster boy, a 4.0 GPA Honors student, captain of his high school football team, a track and field star, and he was going to go into the military...probably aiming to be a general, or something equally prestigious. He had such... _assurance_. Allura envied that about him. Then he had gone missing, off the grid. The professors said he was gone for "personal reasons", an "emergency". No one knew where he was, and gradually rumors began to spread. As far as Allura was concerned, he could have been abducted by aliens and she wouldn't have the slightest clue. She didn't know enough about him to say what had caused his disappearance. 

"Is Shiro here today?" Allura asked cautiously, testing the waters. 

"Yeah, he's in the bathroom," Pidge muttered, her hands furiously tapping away at her game. Allura stood up and moved behind Hunk, leaning down to whisper to him.

"Are you sure that Shiro will be available to contribute? Is he okay...after...whatever happened to make him leave?" 

"Don't worry, he'll do his part, just don't mention _it_ when he comes back" whispered Hunk out of the corner of his mouth, his posture suddenly tense. 

"Don't mention what?"

"His arm," interjected Lance. He was wiping off one of the pencils he had stuck in his mouth. He had an unusually serious expression, it looked odd on him. Odd enough to make Allura sit up and take notice. "Don't mention his arm. Or his face. Or his hair. Don't talk about them. And don't stare at them...please." There was a gentle, pleading lilt in his voice. Lance must have really looked up to Shiro. 

Allura swallowed nervously, her mouth was suddenly bone dry. She wished she had been paying more attention at the beginning of class, Shiro must have come through the door at some point. Everyone else must have already seen what Hunk and Lance were warning her about. She didn't want to make Shiro feel uncomfortable, whatever it was. She tried not to stare at the door, but her heart was pounding in her chest and her eyes kept getting drawn back to that same spot. She looked down at the doodles she had made in her journal to distract herself.

She heard the door open and swing shut. Allura forced a calm smile on her face. She wanted to look confident, if it would help put Shiro at ease. There were footsteps behind her- gentle, but heavy. A shadow fell over her, and she heard a kind voice in her ear.

"Nice pictures. Mice, right? Do you like mice?"

Allura's lips twitched and she responded easily, turning her head slightly but keeping her eyes focused on the paper. "About as much as any other animal. I have some pet mice...they're smarter than people expect. Sometimes they're even smarter than people."

She allowed her eyes to slowly move upwards as she spoke. The first thing she noticed was the cast. Shiro's right arm was wrapped in a bulky black cast, and crooked in front of him. His fingers twitched slightly, but besides that, his entire arm was immobilized. Allura could feel her gaze soften and she hoped that he didn't think she was pitying him. She certainly felt bad for him, but pity...no one wants pity. She couldn't expect such a confident person to ever feeling comfortable with receiving pity. She dared to look at his face, and her mouth dropped open softly. There was a deep cut across the bridge of his nose, extending across his face. The sides of it were held together with small black stitches. What an odd placement...how could he have possibly gotten such a wound? She couldn't imagine how he received it...she couldn't imagine how it must have hurt. The changes didn't end there. His hair had a shocking streak of white running through the bangs. Allura could remember old stories about people who had seen ghosts or been hit by lightning. Their hair had turned white with fear. She hoped that her suspicions were wrong and he had just randomly decided to bleach part of his hair. The alternative was too distressing to consider. She realized that she was doing the one thing she had been told not to do. She was staring. She noticed a warmth emanating from Shiro's eyes, as if urging her not to worry about him. Allura stammered an apology, but he waved it away. Hunk and the others appeared to have already started brainstorming, but Allura could sense that they were listening. 

"It's okay, Allura. That's your name, right? I didn't come in here without knowing that people would have questions. I knew that they'd be shocked. But I'd rather not tell the story right now, I hope that you understand. We have other things to do right now." His voice was gentle, but with a tinge of finality. 

"I understand," Allura said hesitantly. Damn, she really wanted to know what had happened to him. The questions were eating away at her. She wrestled her curiosity away and gestured towards the empty chair. 

"I almost took your seat, your friends are quite protective. I like that."

"Yeah, I mean, they have _that_ at least," laughed Shiro teasingly. His smile was so wide, Allura almost worried that he would pull at the stitches, but they held firm. 

"At least? What do you mean _at least?_ " grumbled Lance, frowning at Shiro, pretending to be hurt. "I'm genuinely offended. I'm the best friend a guy could ever have. Hey, Hunk, back me up here!"

"Define best. I seriously doubt you fall under that word in any sense."

"Shut up, Keith!"

Allura chuckled. She didn't really know them, but she could see that they were a goodhearted group. She didn't regret deciding to walk over, even if they couldn't focus on the project for more than ten minutes at a time. 

"Hey, we need to get working, this project isn't going to finish itself," Shiro said loudly, clapping his hands together.  

"You heard him, what ideas have you got so far?" Allura pulled up another chair and flashed a grin at Shiro. He was really amazing at drawing people together and getting them back on track. 

Lance moaned, leaning his head on the table. "Now there are two of them..."

"Two what?" asked Allura playfully, poking Lance's head with the top of her pencil. She hadn't been part of the group for more than ten minutes, but already she felt comfortable. Lance made a muffled sound of annoyance and sighed dramatically. 

"Two people who actually think this project is important."

Keith flicked Lance's forehead and put his hands over his ears when Lance started swearing at him Spanish. He looked annoyed, but Allura could tell that he was enjoying teasing Lance. She leaned toward's Shiro's shoulder, whispering in his ear. 

"Are those two always so...explosive?"

"Pretty much...but they don't really mean it. Lance just feels like he has something to prove around Keith. They're going for the same major, you know. Keith has a lot of natural talent, and Lance...let's just say that he's a hard worker if it's something he cares about. They like to compete."

Shiro shifted in his chair, resting his broken arm on the table. The cast was cumbersome, but he didn't seem to notice. He smiled at Lance and Keith, like they were a cantankerous old married couple. Yeah...Allura could definitely picture that scenario. She jotted down some ideas for the project in her journal, talking as she worked. 

"You're the Dad friend, aren't you?" 

"What...what do you mean?" Shiro sounded faintly surprised and puzzled, like he'd never heard the term before. 

"Well..." Allura chose her words carefully. After all, Shiro was a famous guy. She didn't want to accidentally insult him in their first meeting. Being diplomatic was the best option. 

"...You look after everyone. You're a leader." 

Shiro smiled and glanced over her notes. That comment obviously pleased him, but he didn't seem like he wanted to accept the praise. He was making a strange, bittersweet expression. Allura felt a pang in her heart, hoping she hadn't said anything hurtful inadvertently. 

"Thank-you. I don't deserve that title though...from what I hear, you're a pretty good leader yourself. You were captain of the debate team at your high school, right? I've heard about you." 

Allura's eyes widened in shock and she blushed nervously, pride and worry rushing through her veins. People were still talking about that? What else were they talking about? Did they know...about that _other thing_? She felt a deep pit of fear in her stomach. She had thought she could make a fresh start in college...was that just a foolish dream? 

"How did you hear about that?" She managed to keep a stammer out of her voice. Sounding strong in front of new people was important. If they knew how shocked she was, she might lose the momentum she had built up before. They might pity her.

"Word gets around," Shiro remarked calmly, as Pidge stuck a pencil down his cast. "One of my teammates from track and field remembered you, their school went up against yours. Apparently you left quite the impression..."

"Did they tell you anything else?"

"No, they didn't, that was it..." answered Shiro, a spark of intrigue in his eyes. "Care to tell us?" 

"I'd...rather not. I hope you understand, we have better things to do right now." Allura echoed Shiro's previous words and gave him a cheeky smile, hoping he would stop asking. Shiro grinned and raised his eyebrows, clearly entertained.

"Touché."

Pidge snorted and pulled the journal away from Allura, squinting at her notes. "If you can both stop flirting for ten minutes, we have a brainstorming session to finish and two idiots to separate." 

Allura and Shiro looked up, suddenly realizing that Keith and Lance were fighting again. Hunk had gotten out of his chair and was standing between the two of them, his hands outstretched as if to symbolically break them up. 

"Uhhhhh...Shiro...a little help here?" His voice was uneasy but he was clearly torn between worry and amusement. Allura could see why, the argument Keith and Lance were having was truly...distracting. 

"I can't _BELIEVE_ you think the Star Wars prequels are better than the originals." 

"That pod racer scene was iconic! In fact, it was freaking awesome."

"So what?! So what, Keith?! Are you seriously suggesting that one little pod racer scene is enough to excuse the existence of Jar Jar (Sith Lord) Binks?"

"Come on, he's not _that_ bad," retorted Keith, his cheeks flushing with annoyance. "Yeah, I admit it...Jar Jar is a bit...cringy...but so are you, Lance. And people still tolerate you...somehow."

"You are officially dead to me, Keith. My name and his name do not belong together in the same _sentence._ "

"You both try really hard to be funny, I don't see a difference."

Lance placed his foot on the seat in front of him, crossing his arms. His stance was sass itself, full of defiance. Allura would have been impressed if the fight wasn't cutting into their productivity. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the professor slowly growing aware of the situation. 

"The _difference,_ Mr. Mullet, is that I'm actually funny. I don't even have to try, I was BORN this way, baby. My humor is an art. But I guess a guy with a stick up his ass-" 

Shiro stood up quickly, as if to stop them, but Allura had already made her move. 

"Both of you, sit down right now! Keith and Lance, you both have a right to like whatever movies you want, but you seem to be forgetting that we have an assignment to do, and besides, both the prequels and the originals had their fair share of pros and cons. To debate all of them now-when we are so pressed for time and cannot have an adequate discussion- that would be doing a disservice to the glorious legacy that Star Wars has left behind. Capiche?" Her voice rang out clearly and both of them shut their mouths. Everyone at the table was staring at her. She shrugged off their stares and began flipping through the textbook decisively. 

"...Nice job," congratulated Pidge, a hint of respect in her chocolate brown eyes. "They've never shut up that quickly before." 

"I didn't overstep my boundaries?" 

"No," commented Shiro thoughtfully, inserting himself into the conversation. His eyes grazed over her face and then snapped downwards, at his papers. "I'm impressed."

It was amazing how three words could make Allura smile so much. She let her hair out of its bun and leaned her head down so no one could see her face. For some reason, being so happy was embarrassing. 

 "You have a nice smile," said Shiro suddenly. It seemed like an offhand compliment, something that he was giving without even thinking about it, but Allura could tell he meant it. Even if it was awkwardly delivered. 

"Thank-you!" she said brightly, noticing that the rest of the table reacted strangely to his words. Pidge was staring intensely at the back of Shiro's head with a stunned expression, like it had suddenly turned into a pumpkin. Lance and Keith were actually silent for once, and Hunk kept looking back and forth between Allura and Shiro like he was watching an invisible ping pong match. Shiro continued to talk, blissfully unaware of how the rest of his friends were hanging on his every word. 

"It's strange, I don't think I've ever seen you smile before." 

"That is peculiar." Allura suddenly looked away, her voice tight and guarded. Shiro bit his lower lip and opened his mouth as if to say more, but Allura shook her head apologetically and he backed off. The rest of the group busied themselves, trying to pretend that they hadn't noticed anything. Allura wished she could speak normally. She didn't want them to worry. She didn't want to spoil the good mood that everyone was having. She had already decided long ago that she needed to be happy, or at least act like it. Who had time for worry or grief when there was work to be done? _No one._ She smiled and turned away from Shiro, asking Pidge miscellaneous questions about the project, silly things like what kind of poster board to use and the color scheme. 

_I will be happy. I will be strong._


End file.
